O/T-The Economist on the 'business of baseball"

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by Leon

I am glad that Nolan Ryan will be the new part-owner. One bit of misinformation, if what I just read is correct, is that the Cowboys play their games there also. We all know that Jerry World is where they play their games now. I am sure that was taken into account in the bidding process. Nice post Bruce and sorry I missed you at the National.... Terry K Sr. told me you were at his table but when I was there you must have already left. best regards

I think what the article means is that there are numerous parking lots surrounding the stadium and that these lots are also used for parking during the Cowboys games.

I know for a fact that many of these lots are also owned by Tom Hicks, yet were not covered by the liens that the creditors had against the Rangers. (This was a poor job of structuring the loans years ago.) Therefore, in the original agreement, when $75 million of the sale was designated to cover these properties, that money would have gone to Tom Hicks, and not to the creditors. The judge stripped that provision out of the agreement. I believe that means that Hicks still owns these lots and will have to sell them later, but for now, all money collected will go toward the collected debts.

I loved the way this worked out. The creditors were the ones backing the Cuban bid. They were encouraging him to get involved for a long while. By doing so, he increased the price close to $150 million. Net result is the creditors will walk away with close to 75 or 80 cents on a dollar, when they were looking at 50 cents.